U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that $178.5 million is now available for West Virginia under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. This funding will lay the foundation for a generation of education reform and help save hundreds of thousands of teaching jobs at risk of state and local budget cuts. West Virginia will be eligible to apply for another $88 million this fall. Today's funding is being made available per West Virginia's successful completion of Part 1 of the State Stabilization Application, which was made available on April 1st.

"The $178.5 million West Virginia will receive today is part of the single largest boost in education funding in recent history," said Duncan. "The President's leadership and support from Congress have made this historic investment possible West Virginia can now utilize these funds to save jobs and lay the groundwork for a generation of education reform."

To date, West Virginia has received $74 million in education stimulus funds—representing a combination of funding for Title I, IDEA, Vocational Rehabilitation Grants and Independent Living Grants. On April 1, West Virginia received $30.5 million in Title I funding and $41 million in IDEA funding. This represents 50 percent of the Title I and IDEA funding West Virginia is eligible for in total. On April 1, West Virginia also received more than $2 million in Vocational Rehab funds and $496,000 in Independent Living funds.

In order to receive today's funds, West Virginia provided assurances that it will collect, publish, analyze and act on basic information regarding the quality of classroom teachers, annual student improvements, college readiness, the effectiveness of state standards and assessments, progress on removing charter caps and interventions in turning around underperforming schools.

West Virginia is also required by the Department of Education to report the number of jobs saved through Recovery Act funding, the amount of state and local tax increases averted and how funds are used.